1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatuses and systems for embedded thermoelectric generators, and more particularly relates to generating electricity by utilizing ambient temperature differences.
2. Description of the Related Art
The increasing gap between the consumption and production of energy has resulted in depletion of conventional sources of energy. One such source of energy is oil. In 2005, 28% of the world's oil fields were in decline, and this percentage has already risen to 40% in 2009. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the current rate of oil field decline is 6.7% per year which will increase to 8.6% per year.
With this realization of fossil fuel reserves running out, the world has begun to shift focus towards renewable energy sources to meet energy demands. Renewable energy is one that comes from a natural source capable of replenishing itself over a short span of time. These sources being unlimited in reserves, do not have the risk of running out like fossil fuels and have the added advantage of being environment friendly. Commonly, solar energy used by photovoltaic cells, wind energy harvested using wind turbines and geothermal energy using heat and steam from the depth of the earth are all examples of natural renewable energy used for power generation.
Thermoelectric generators have been fabricated to produce small amounts of power in micro-devices and larger scale generators have been used in solar hybrid systems with solar cells to convert the performance impeding heat into usable power. However, the temperature difference between outside and inside temperatures of a building have not been employed for thermoelectric generation because of the blocking interfaces between the two counter environments. Thus, there is a need for thermoelectric generators embedded into interfaces to take advantage of the temperature difference between the ambient temperature on the two sides of an interface.